WASHINGTON—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, released the following statement on new immigration legislation announced today by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and James Lankford (R-OK):
I appreciate that my colleagues recognize the need to pass legislation giving a path to citizenship to Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought here as children and grew up in this country—so do 75% of the American people. Unfortunately the Tillis-Lankford bill falls short. First, it requires Dreamers to sign an order waiving their legal rights in advance, which could allow them to be quickly deported without a day in court, based on little more than an allegation from the Trump Administration that they fail to meet the bill’s strict requirements. In contrast to the bipartisan Dream Act, their bill excludes tens of thousands of Dreamers who came to the United States as children, have lived here for decades, and have clean criminal records, based solely on arbitrary date cutoffs.
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I again urge the Republican leadership in Congress to bring the bipartisan Dream Act to the floor for a vote as soon as possible. The deportation countdown clock for these young people is ticking.
